1. Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to a pre-school or primary school teaching device in the form of a puzzle or game which exercises both the visual and olfactory senses of the player, and more particularly to a game that makes use of a playing board having removable chips therein seated in cutouts, one surface of each chip being coated with a layer of rupturable capsules filled with a fragrance whose smell matches the characteristic smell of an odoriferous object, a drawing of which is printed on the board.
2. Status of Prior Art
Smell is that special sense which enables an individual to perceive and distinguish the odors of various substances or objects. The organ of smell is made up of olfactory cells situated in the mucous membrane of the upper portion of the nasal cavity. The hair-like free ends of the cells are stimulated by odors and scents entering the nasal cavity, the nerve fibers of the cells sending impulses through the nervous system to the brain where the odor or scent is registered.
The sense of smell in modern man has been dulled by various factors such as excessive smoking and drinking; but pre-school children remain highly responsive to odors. Taste is often confused with smell and in many instances substances supposedly tasted are without taste and are really smelled. This may account for the sharp reaction of children to unpleasant medicines which adults find less disagreeable. Yet the olfactory sensitivity of pre-school children, which is far greater than that possessed by most adults, is rarely exploited in educational or play activity.
In dealing with pre-school or primary school children there is no clear line of demarcation between play and teaching activity, for teaching is best carried out in a play or game mode. For example, in teaching a child the relationship between objects and words, one can create a game in which the child is asked to match word-bearing cards with pictures of objects. Thus, in the game disclosed in the patent to Aberge et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,172,214, the word "milk" is associated with a picture of a milk bottle, and the word "frog" with a picture of this animal.
The concept of matching underlies many of the teaching devices and games designed for pre-school children. Thus, the patent to Levin, U.S. Pat. No. 3,349,503, matches up objects and colors. Albee, U.S. Pat. No. 2,659,163, matches up geometric shapes with colors; while White, U.S. Pat. No. 3,715,816, matches up animals with their natural food. The Ladd et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,570,139, discloses a book made up of sheets having coatings thereon which when scratched give off particular odors. In Ladd, after a coating is scratched and smelled, the player places a picture of a selected object such as peppermint candy against the scratched coating which the player believes gives off the odor of the object.
But lacking in these prior art patents is a game, puzzle or educational device in which odor, color and geometric form are coordinated in a selective matching procedure having a high degree of play and educational value.
In my prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,243,227, there is disclosed a game for pre-school or primary school children that makes use of a playing board having printed thereon at distinct positions pictures of different odoriferous objects such as fruits having characteristic smells. Superimposed on each pictured object is an identifier constituted by a major circle and a minor circle concentric therewith, the circles being radially divided into colored segments. Each identifier has a distinctive color pattern that differs from every other identifier. The periphery of the minor circle is scored to define a punchout disc, the surface of which is coated with a myriad of minute, rupturable capsules containing an odor-producing substance whose smell is the characteristic odor of the related object.
The discs are removed from the playing board to create sockets therein, each of which is surrounded by a major circle ring whose color pattern matches that of the removed disc. The group of discs serve as the play elements of the game, the player being required to select a play element and to scratch and smell its surface. He then places the element in the ring socket of the pictured object which he believes gives off the same odor. The correctness of his choice is confirmed if there is a match between the color pattern of the element and that of the socket ring.
My prior game exploits only one face of the playing board, the other face being wasted.